Kirishima was on the ground, feeling the weight of his body rise with every moment that passed, he forgot how long it had been, somehow, it was okay. Giving his life for hers was. He felt a drop of water on his cheek, slowly he opened his eyes finding Mina's face closet to him, her eyes filled with tears as she leaned. His body immediately reacted in alert, she wasn't supposed to be with him, not when the house was slowly burning.
"This is my fault" she cried, "If only I pushed you away this wouldn't have happened" she lamented. Somehow the wound on his stomach no longer hurt, but he could still feel the wetness of the blood that had dripped out of it. The fact that she thought it was her fault made his blood recoil, but not as much as the echoes of the people who dared call her a demon child.
He lifted his hand touching her soft pink hair until it rested on her cheek lamenting the trace of blood it had left behind.
"This could never be your fault" he said, his lips slowly curved into a soft smile "You gave me some of the best moments in my life. Now please, leave"
"No! I could never leave you here!" she wept, as her tears fell one after the other, the smoke around them made the sunset appear darker than what it was supposed to be, he always liked watching it from that room with her but not while the house was being lit on fire.
"Then they'll catch you Mina!" he argued back "And you know as well as I do what will happen if they lay their hands on you, so please leave, go and be happy"
"How will I be happy without you?" Kirishima shrugged even if it hurt
"You always managed to find a way to see life with joy" He grabbed her hand placing a kiss on her knuckles, "Now please go, I'll love you no matter what"
His lids slowly closed, and Mina let out a cry of despair as she clung over his lifeless body, the hole on her chest made her regret talking to him in the first place. She knew fully well there was no way for them to have a happy ending, they couldn't keep running forever and the people would always hate her no matter where she stepped, and it costed his life.
She laid one kiss on his forehead
"I'm sorry" she mumbled as tears didn't stop from coming out of her eyes.
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For as long as Kirishima could remember even if he always called red his favorite color there was something about pink that pulled him towards it, like if a color could have a magnetic power he would be dragged to the girls' clothes section every time his mom dragged him to go shopping with her when he was a little kid.
There was just something about that color that pulled a string within him like if he had forgotten about something important and that color was the only thing he had that sparked the light of a memory in him even if there was no way he could knew what it was.
Some days Kirishima woke up in cold sweat in the middle of the night and stared at his hands feeling how empty they were. He could never remember those dreams that left a lingering sensation of loneliness and anger behind them.
He was twelve when the redhead found out running to the woods had a soothing effect in him so whenever he had that kind of dreams he spent his afternoon running to the forest as fast as his feet would take him and he would walk until he got lost memorizing the path behind him, no matter what he always ended up near the same river so the path back home was easier. He never told anyone about it.
However, there was one dream, one he vividly remembered out of the hundreds he had forgotten. He died in there, he could feel the smoke and the air warm from the fire but everything else was dark, that dream left him angry when he woke up, but it wasn't because he died it was because he left someone behind and he couldn't recall anything who they were or why leaving them behind infuriated him.
Kirishima never told anyone about this, not even Bakugou; how could he? He had grown up with it and he knew it wasn't something normal. He just knew it, and dealing with it himself was difficult enough to add betraying a hypothetical person who probably never existed by talking about them behind their hypothetical back.
It was weird how he could sometimes remember warm arms surrounding him or his own arms wrapping someone so tightly that nothing else would be able to hurt her.
One day he tried to continue his day as normal, but he was unable to. He felt eager the entire day constantly tapping his foot against the classroom floor, as his heart beat in his chest
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Bakugou had asked, Kirishima frowned for a second
"Nothing" he said, there was nothing wrong with him in perspective, his day was carrying like usual and he was going to hang out with his friends later in the afternoon.
The rest of the day carried like expected, nothing out of the ordinary happened even after he was out of the school. With the streets flooded with people he found himself looking around like if he expected someone to appear out of thin air and he didn't want to be taken with his guards low
"I swear you're only getting fuckin' weirder the longer the day goes" Bakugou swore while Kaminari and Sero nodded behind him, Kirishima's odd behavior was so obvious even they had taken notice of it.
He was about to answer to them but then, he saw it.
A bubblegum pink mane standing out in the middle of the crowd, it was regular people with unique hair colors attracted other people's glances. Kirishima had even gotten a few himself when he had taken the decision to die his hair red, but this was different. The person with that pink mane carried a feeling of returning home alongside them. Before he knew it his feet were walking further away from his group of friends and guiding him in the same direction that pink stain had followed
Suddenly the voice of Bakugou calling him seemed empty, and devoid of any significant sound. He lifted his hand before walking further from the group to get closer the that pink mane. The people in the streets of Tokyo were getting in his way as he swiftly moved between them muttering a few sorry when his body collided against someone else's, Kirishima barely paid any attention to them as he followed that girl. He was well aware his actions would light a red flag, he just wanted an answer, that was all then he would leave the person alone if that was what they wanted.
The people in the streets of Tokyo were getting in his way as he swiftly moved between them trying desperately to reach the person in front of him.
He wanted to know why sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night feeling lonely.
He wanted to know why he forgot the dreams that left him feeling empty or why the color pink was something he considered to be beautiful.
He wanted to know why sneaking out to the forest made him feel relaxed.
Or why when he died his only regret was leaving someone behind.
His body collided with something and he grabbed the other person's arm by instinct to prevent them from falling, it was then when his eyes collided with pink and he noticed the person he had been chasing was a girl with bright golden eyes. The instant he was face to face with her he froze, unknown to him what to do, the pink haired girl stared at him with her head tilted and her hands behind her back her eyes full of curiosity waiting for him to say something.
Without him realizing his hand slowly moved towards her cheek, the action felt natural like arriving home from a long day of school or waking up extra early for the first day. But this was different. His vision switched for a split second and the same girl with bubblegum pink hair stood in front of him smiling this time as she held his hand and placed a flower crown on his head a small pair of yellow horns on her.
"Mina" Was the word that came out of his lips, as she leaned closer to the hand on her cheek tears began to fill the brim of her eyes and she pulled away his hand fearing he had done something wrong
"I've been waiting" She cried as she jumped into his arms "And you're finally here" she sunk into him, he tightened the hug, it was still her and she was safe and sound.
"I'm sorry I took so long" he mumbled unwilling to let her go one more time.